Things to do nearPalatine Hill

Palatine Hill is the most storied of Rome's seven hills, rising about 40 metres above the city and overlooking both the Forum valley and the long green swathe of the Circus Maximus. Ancient tradition holds that Romulus founded Rome here in 753 BC, and archaeologists have uncovered hut foundations dating to the Iron Age that lend the legend genuine weight.

By the late Republic, Palatine Hill had become the most fashionable address in Rome, home to figures including Cicero and Augustus. When Augustus chose to build his modest house here, he set a precedent that successive emperors followed on an ever-grander scale. The ruins of the Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana cover much of the hilltop today, their vaulted substructures and mosaic fragments hinting at the opulence that once defined imperial life. The Farnese Gardens, laid out in the sixteenth century over the ruins of Tiberius's palace, add a layer of Renaissance calm to the ancient landscape.

The site sits within a combined archaeological zone that includes the Roman Forum immediately to the north and the Colosseum a short walk east, making Palatine Hill a natural centerpiece for a day spent among Rome's greatest monuments.

For anyone serious about understanding how Rome evolved from a hilltop village into the capital of an empire, Palatine Hill is an essential stop.